Simeulue Parrot
Psittinus abbotti
Large-headed and short-tailed parrot with a comically bulbous bill, endemic to Simeulue and Siumat. Male is green with a bright orange bill and a powder-blue head and rump. Female is brown-headed with a dark bill. Usually moves in mid-sized flocks through forests and forest edge. Does not sound as cacophonous and unpleasant as many parrots; gives rather musical whistled notes.
Identification
The Simeulue parrot is a small, short-tailed bird of stocky build, measuring approximately 19 cm. It has a bright green colouration, which in adult males is accented by a blue face with a green crown and a black collar. It differs from the blue-rumped parrot in its larger size, the lack of grey mantle and back, lack of blue rump, green instead of brown head colouration in the female, and blue head colouration in the male.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Psittinus abbotti
- Authority
- Richmond, 1902
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Psittinus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Fulvous-breasted Flatbill
Rhynchocyclus fulvipectus
Scarce, inconspicuous flycatcher of Andean cloud forest. It has olive upperparts, tawny breast, yellow belly, gray eyering, and brown patches in wings. Bill is very wide at the base, though this may not be evident when the bird is seen from the side. Similar to Pacific and Olivaceous Flatbills, but has a tawny breast and is typically found at higher elevations. Typically found perching at fairly low levels in the forest, sometimes at forest edge, and may join mixed-species flocks.
Lewin's Honeyeater
Meliphaga lewinii
A medium-sized olive-gray honeyeater with a pale yellow cheek patch and a relatively stout bill. Cheek patch is often a crescent compared to the circular patch on Graceful Honeyeater and the oval path on Yellow-spotted Honeyeater. Adults have a bluish eye, while the similar Graceful Honeyeater has a blue-gray eye and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater has a brown eye. Listen for the rapid staccato machine-gun call of Lewin’s compared to the loud repeated whistles of the Yellow-spotted Honeyeater and the more simple, single note call of Graceful Honeyeater. Of the three easily confusable species, this is the only one found away from the tropics; it occurs in wetter forests and gardens all along the eastern coast of Australia.
Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot
Loriculus beryllinus
Tiny, short-tailed, bright green parrot. Both sexes show red bill and red rump, while male also possesses a scarlet crown. Typically found in ones or twos in the canopy of forests in the Wet Zone, but also wooded areas outside of that zone. Confined to Sri Lanka, where the extremely small size and short tail make it easily identified from all other parrots on the island. Often given flight call is a metallic “zit-zit-zit”. Can also be given singly, as a drawn out “zeeet”.
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